Review of BlackBoard

For my pilot project, I decided to use Course Sites by Blackboard. I decided to use this tool because though I have not used it before, it is a tool that I have heard about many times.

While deciding what tool I wanted to use, I came across CourseSites by Blackboard, and found the information about it to be quite appealing. First, I noticed that it is an "interactive, free online learning platform" (Blackboard, n.d.). I noticed that it is easy to adapt the site to the needs of the instructor and the students. This is beneficial, because no two courses are the same. I also liked the fact that as an instructor, I am able to make any changes I wish to make online with ease.

When I began working on creating my pilot project, I enjoyed how easy it was! Signing up was very, very easy and quick. Once registered, there was an option to use a quick setup guide, which would lead the creator through their creation step-by-step.The quick setup guide allows the creator to name their course and provide a short description. Next, the creator is able to choose a course structure. The creator then gets the opportunity to choose a theme for their course. This allows the creator to personalize the look of their site.

I found it to be very easy to add assignments to my pilot project. You simply click on "assessments" then "assignments" in the "content" tab. Once that is done, the creator names their assignment, gives directions, can upload needed documents, information about grading, due dates, and various other information. All of this is located on the same page, making imputing this information convenient for the instructor. There is also an area on the site to create discussions, if the instructor wishes to do so. The instructor can also write announcements for the students, which can be extremely helpful.

I have never created a website like this before, but CourseSites by Blackboard made this task much less daunting. It made my creation very easy to do, and it is also easy to edit the site at any time. I would recommend this tool to anyone designing an online course, due to its ease of use, and the ability to really personalize the site to fit your needs.

Comments

I have to look into Blackboard. For my pilot, I am using Google Classroom which I also found to be somewhat convenient for my set up - especially the assignments. I could have the students send me their own work or it could be visible to the rest of the class. Thus, depending on the assignment, I could either have them discuss it or just submit one to me. I found that beneficial for those assignments that don't have varying answers and can avoid students from copying off of each other.

Great insights Ashley....wish I had the ability to read these blogs BEFORE choosing which tool I was going to use to publish my pilot. There was so much to think about during this assignment and not enough exploration was done on my part to see what tool was going to be best for me. Maybe moving forward our options in this class could be filtered to a small subset and some of the 'findings' from these classes could be incorporated or at least a link to some of these blogs could be provided for review. I ended up using Google+ so Ismini I am also looking forward to reviewing your pilot to see what you did with that tool vs. just a Google+ Community.